Camp Potosi Pines, Nevada

Wow! We are 2/3s of the way through this project at Camp Potosi Pines. Where has the time gone? Have we really been gone for three weeks? Time sure flies when you are having fun.

Savannah with her 6 year old haircut



Scarlett in her new birthday dress I made

We left home on April 11th heading west. Three and a half days later, we arrived in Albuquerque to spend a couple of days with Eric, Staci, and the girls. We helped Scarlett celebrate her 4th birthday, watch Savannah at her gymnastics class, and play with little Ms. Evie. I can't believe how much she has grown since Christmas! All

Little Ms Evie at six months old

three girls are so cute, it was so hard to leave to drive on west.














We arrived at Camp Potosi Pines a week after we left home. Potosi is located in the mountains about 20 miles west of the outskirts of Las Vegas. We are nestled in a valley

John and Kathy finishing the swinging bridge



10,000+ mountain on the south side
of the camp

between a very high mountain ridge to the east and lower rolling desert hills to the west. When we started working two weeks ago, it was rather warm but by the end of the week, the temperatures had really dropped and rain rolled in. Last Saturday, while we were down in the city, our team members said they had snow flurries here. You could see white all over the tops of the peaks to the east! This past week was definitely not cold! Las Vegas had temperatures in the 90s but up here, it was in the mid-80s. Rather warm, but not too bad.

I've never out here before so this place is very different than any place I've ever visited. The desert environment takes some getting used to – not only the scenery but the super dry air. Thank goodness for Aveeno Bath Oil or my dry skin would have itched me to craziness. In the NC mountains, we live among a lot of tall green trees and green bushes everywhere. In the desert, the trees are low with twisted trunks. Sage bushes abound everywhere. When I cleaned my paint brushes the other day and the water splashed on the nearby sage bushes, the aroma was so strong and smelled so good, I could have sat there forever surrounded by that sweet smell.

We drive up from Las Vegas on Hwy 160 then turn off on a gravel road for about five miles until to we reach the camp. The gravel road is actually the old wagon road that people took to southern California. It also leads to an failed Morman lead mine. The valley here was the home to a tribe of Paiute Indians. They would come here in the summer to avoid the heat of the valley. On the Boy Scout camp lands just across and down the road a quarter of a mile are the archaic Paiute ceremonial grounds. And just on the other side of the mountain with the double peaks is where Carole Lombard, her mom, 22 servicemen, and the rest of war bond raising group met their death when their airplane crashed into the mountain in lousy weather early 1942.

The outdoor stage we rebuilt
and painted

Okay, what have we done so far? We dismantled an outdoor stage, replaced rotted wood then replaced and painted the stage flooring, railing, and steps. Then we did the same thing to an old bridge that goes over a dry creek bed. We also replaced disintegrated boards on one of the walkways to the dorms and painted the archery stands. Not sure what we have planned for next week, but I know it will be worthwhile.

Little Mr Sawyer at 7 months old

Last weekend we got up with Jessica and Sawyer and spent the evening and went out to dinner.  Little sure has grown since we first saw him at Christmastime.  He's now seven months old and is so amiable.  Smiles all the time and is delightful.

Driving through this country of ours makes you realize how vast and wonderfully diverse this land is. And once you start looking into the stories and histories of those who lived here before us, you begin to understand how everyone contributed to our national identity and how important each individual is to the whole of this country. It truly is amazing!



I must say that getting this blog online has been a test of patience.  At the camp we have extremely limited WiFi so Bill and I drove into town to a fast food place whose WiFi was not strong enough.  So two days later, here we are at Best Buy and finally have a strong enough signal to download the pictures and post this.  Thank you, thank you Best Buy for letting us use your strong WiFi!!!!!